TechnipFMC is to lead a consortium that will construct and test a green hydrogen system using offshore wind turbines and electrolysis, with hydrogen stored on the seabed
Innovation Norway has granted financial support to realise the €9M (US$11M) Deep Purple pilot project. The pilot project will enable TechnipFMC to continue developing the offshore wind-to-green hydrogen concept.
The company has been working on the Deep Purple concept since 2016, supported by the Research Council of Norway.
The consortium consists of Vattenfall, Repsol, ABB, Nel, DNV GL, Umoe and Slåttland, and is supported by academia, research companies and clusters.
The pilot project will allow the consortium partners to prepare the Deep Purple concept for large-scale commercial use. The scope includes development and testing a control and advisory system and a dynamic process simulator.
TechnipFMC president subsea Jonathan Landes said, “Securing approval and funding to proceed with a pilot project is a critical step in the path to commercialisation. We are grateful to our partners and to Innovation Norway for collaborating with us.
“Deep Purple is another example of our commitment to work with clients and industry to develop transformative technologies, leveraging our industry know-how and subsea expertise to serve the energy transition.”
The aim of the Deep Purple project is to convert energy from offshore wind into green hydrogen using electrolysis. The green hydrogen would be stored on the seabed and used for a range of applications, including, potentially, ensuring a stable supply of renewable electricity to oil and gas platforms, and in other industries such as shipping and transport.
TechnipFMC believes that, if implemented, such a solution could ‘drastically reduce’ carbon emissions on the Norwegian continental shelf. This is because offshore platforms that produce oil and gas are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, the primary source being gas turbines used by rigs to generate electricity.
A consortium led by TechnipFMC has been studying the possibility of using fuel cells powered by hydrogen to replace gas turbines on oil and gas platforms. Hydrogen produced by electrolysers, potentially installed in offshore wind turbines, would be stored in tanks on the seabed and used by fuel cells, which would also be housed in the turbines, to produce electrical power for platforms.
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